Closure



y 7, 1935. F. SWEENEY 2,000,795

CLOSURE Filed Nov. 10, 1954 IIIIII/IIIII 'IIIIIIIIIII/ INVENTOR Frank E.Sweeney 0 milmgg lgfi WITNESSES Patented May 7 1935 1 UNITED STATESPATENT orrlcg v CLOSURE Frank E. Sweeney, Roselle, N. J., asslgnor toSweeney-Block & 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication November 10, 1934, Serial No. 752,539

4 Claims.

A further object more specifically is to provide a garment or any othercommodity with an opening, located at any desired place, with overlapsprovided with thickened edges on both sides of the opening, and meansfor connecting a slide fastener to such commodity immediately adjacentthe opening so, that the thickened edges of the overlaps will preventany part of the fastener sliding mechanism becoming interlockedtherewith.

In the accompanying drawing- Figure l is a front view of a dress,provided with a closure, constructed in accordance with the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of Fig. 1 on the line 2--2,thesame being on an enlarged scale; I i H I Fig. 3 is a front view of achilds suit with an embodiment of the invention applied thereto;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in section, showing amodified arrangement of a fastener overlap with enlarged or thickenededge;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing a second modified form ofthe edge.

Referring to the accompanying drawing by numerals, 1 indicate a dresswhich is provided with a body 2 open down the front at 3 and providedwith the desired neck opening l. The dress is also provided with sleeves5 and 6 .of any desired kind. It will be observed that the front opening3 extends from the neck opening 4 downwardly a desired distance, as, forinstance, to the point 1. A slide fastener structure 8 is connected tothe parts of the body 2 so as to disengageably connect the edges of theopening together.

In garments of this kind, which are for small children, the goods aremade from thin material and if, for the purpose of forming an overlapfor the fastener, an ordinary double thickness at the opening 3 wereprovided the edges of such overlap would sometimes become punctured bythe slide member. 9 of the fastener structure 8. As shown in Fig. 2, theslide member 9 is.

necessarily provided with slots Ill and l I so as to slide over thetapes l2 and [3. In order for the slide member 9 to move freely, thereis provided a slightly greater opening than the thickness of the tapeand, consequently, the edges of the overlaps at the opening 3 sometimesbecome pinched, and if the strap M were given a jerk or hard pull theedge would become torn. For this reason heretofore it has beenimpossible to use a slide fastener on small childrens dresses or inconnection with other commodities, where the overlapping edges, adaptedto cover the fastener, are made of comparatively thin material. In thepresent invention, however, means have been provided which will overcomethis difficulty, namely,

the enlarging of the edges l5 and I6.

As shown in Fig. 2, the edges l5 and I6 are enlarged by having thematerial looped over and around cords I1 and I8, and then suitable linesof stitching i9 and 20 positioned adjacent the cords so as to provide,in a certain sense, beads.

This enlarged rounded structure, which is slightly stiffened by reasonof the cords, will not enter the openings I0 and l I, even if broughtinto contact therewith and, consequently, slide 9 may be moved back andforth freely and carelessly, if

desired, without any danger of catching in the side edges of the opening3. As shown in Fig. 2, the body 2 extends over to the edges l5 and I6,around the cords H and I8, and then back to the points 2! and 22. Thematerial is bent back again and looped at 23 and 24, with a small returnsection so that the linesof stitching 26 and .21 may hold. the edge ofthe tapes l2 and I3 flrmlyin place, lines of stitching 28and '25 beingarranged adjacent the edges 2| and 22. In this way the fastenerstructure 8 is really suspended from seams 28 and 29. When strap l4 andthe operating handle of slide 9 are moved along tapes I2 and 13, theytemporarily displace or part the reinforced edges and 16 of the normallyadjacent overlaps. However, as soon as they pass, the overlaps retractto their intended, fastenercovering position, being moved together bythe stiffness of the reinforcement of their edges, as indicated at 30 inFigure 1, so as to completely hide tapes l2 and I3 andpresent a pleasingappearance of the entire closure. This arrangement permits the child atany time to open or close the dressat the front without danger of anypart of the slide fastener pinching or interlocking any part of thedress.

stitches 28 and 29. There is a pair of uppermost flaps and another pairof lowermost flaps. The

,uppermost flaps consist of two folded or doubled single layers or plysof the garment material, the

' doubling extending over the entire width of the uppermost flaps. Theirinner Edges are'reinforced and are adapted to cooperate with one ofmaterial, held together by stitches 26 and 21,

which stitches also hold in place tapes l2 and iii of the slidefastener. The double layer portions of the lowermost flaps form theinneredges thereof, which are placed apart from one another,

. as clearly seen from Figure 2.

Both uppermost and lowermost flaps are formed from a single ply of thegarment material folded upon itself as described, and constitutecontinuations thereof. The inner edges or margins of the flaps areconsidered those which are nearestto each other while the outer marginsof both flaps coincide with one another and are held together bystitches 28 and 29.

In Fig. 3 the same inventive idea is provided in a boys suit, the samebeing indicated by the numeral 3|. In this form of garment the opening 3extends preferably past the waist-line, but otherwise the constructionis identical to that shown in Fig. 1 and therefore will need no addi-'tional description. In this form of the inven-- tion, as well as thatshown in Fig. 1, very thin material and cords, as shown in Fig. 2,-are'preferably used although other forms of edge reinforcement may be.employed. For instance, the material may be looped as indicated by" inFig. 4 and strips of the same or of other material 33 inserted, It willbe evident that the looping could be made around the strips 33' first,and then held fixed by stitching l9. This will provide a rounded edgewhich is somewhat enlarged and which will prevent the overlaps becomingcaught by slots l0 and H of the slide member 9.

Also if preferred, instead of using the cord or filling 33,. the edgesof the overlaps may be turned upon themselves, as indicated at 34 inFig. 5, and the line of stitching I9" provided for holding the rolled-upparts together. It will therefore be seen that where the material usedis relatively thin, any form of means which will thicken, the edge ofthe overlaps and present a smooth structure will function to prevent theslide member 9 from pinching or interlocking therewith.

In forming garments of the character described without this thickenedrounded edge, the slide member 9 will sometimes have pinched the edge ofthe opening, thus making the garments unsaleable. By providing thisthickened rounded edge the slide fastener never pinches or becomesunworkable by reason of the engagement with the edge and, consequently,children or anyone else may operate the slide fastener as often asdesired.

While I have shown and described my closure in'connection withchildren's garments, and while I have disclosed specific forms thereof,be it understood that my closure may be employed in connection with anyother commodity where the sc-called zipper fastener is used for drawingtogather two edges, adapted to be united, and which fastener is to becovered by flaps or overlaps so as to conceal the fastener itself. and Itherefore reserve for myself the right to thus employ my invention inconnection with any desired commodity, and to make changes andimprovements therein without departing from the broad claims.

I claim:

1. In a closure for disengageably connecting or drawing together twoedges of a commodity made of relatively thin material, an edgeconstruction comprising a single ply of material folded upon itself toform several superimposed adjacent upper and lower double layers, ofwhich layers the upper double layer is provided at its free edge with areinforcement, while the lowermost double layer forms a free edge,adapted to serve as attaching means for a slide fastener and a slidefastener secured to said lowermost double layer.

2. In a closure for disengageably connecting or drawing together theedges of an opening of a commodity made of relatively thin material, an

scope of my idea, asset forth in the annexed edge construction formedfrom the material and layer forming attaching means, a slide fastener,

secured to the latter so that the edge-reinforced upper double layernormally overlaps said slide fastener and forms a displaceable andretractable cover means for the latter.

3. In an article made of relatively thin, pliable or drawn together, aclosure construction formed material and having edges adapted to beclosed a from the material of the article, and comprising at each edge asingle ply of the material folded so as to constitute two adjacent,superposed flaps,-

each flap consisting of two folded single layers of material and havingfree edges, the free edge of one flap materially extending over the freeedge of the other flap, the edge of theme flap provided with anedge-reinforcement, a slide fastener having attaching tapes each securedby means of its tape to the free edge of the other flap, thefirstmentioned flap adapted'to normally overlap said slide fastener andfurther adapted to be displaceable and retractable when the fastener isbeing actuated.

4. In a garment made of relatively thin, pliable material, having edgesadapted to be closed or drawn together, a closure construction for twocorresponding edges formed, in combination, from the garment materialitself and a slide fastener having a strap-equipped slide member, saidconstruction comprising, at each of the corresponding edges, a singleply of the garment material, folded so as to form two adjacent flaps,free at their inner margins, but secured together to the single ply ofthe material at their outer margins, each of the flaps comprising a.continuation of the single ply garment material, folded upon itself, oneof the flaps being relatively wide and forming the outer cover of theclosure and provided with a cord reinforcement at its bent-over, innermargin, the other flap being formed beneath and adjacent to thefirst-mentioned flap with a bentover, free, inner margin which isrelatively narrow, and its entire width being considerably less thanthat of the cover flap, a slide fastener, having attaching tapes,secured by means of these tapes to the inner margin of the other flap,the reinforced inner margins of the cover flaps of bothcorresponding'edges adapted to normally abut, while permitting theirtemporary displacement by the moving slide member and its strap.

FRANK E. SWEENEY.

